Art Slam

I am excited to see so many people selecting a partner and participating in this project. Even if you choose to do this solo, and you can do that, I believe it will be a great experience and help you grow creatively. Now, I started thinking if this would be easier to stick with if there were specific themes and I can not say yes or no to that just yet. For those of you who do better with some kind of guidance, I have compiled a list of suggested themes you can use during the diptych project. I find suggested themes can be helpful when you get stuck in the middle of the process, so I hope these will be of some help and I can not wait to see the first round of collective creations.

Suggested Diptych Themes

• New
• Green
• Food
• Music
• Technology
• Water
• Think
• Red
• Book
• Love
• Touch
• Order
• Chaos
• Ignite
• Peace
• Vibe
• Now
• Present
• Cascade
• Plenty
• Blaze
• Rough
• Bright
• Art
• Self
• Drink
• Favorite

I can always use a good excuse to shoot a photograph or create a little art everyday. Twice I have attempted the 365 portrait projects, and those lasted no more than 33 days both times. So, that got me to thinking. How could I reap the benefits of projects like this without a year long commitment? What could I do to keep me motivated and not give up when I am just getting started?

How about a month long project with a friend? One month is just enough time to build up a pretty nice body of creative work and doing it with a friend keeps you both motivated to keep up with it after the 30 days is up.

So, here is the plan:

First thing you need is someone to do this project with you.

Second, you both select a medium to create something everyday. For example, I am going to shoot a picture everyday. Your partner may decide to do a daily card.Or you could do a scrapbook page or a journal page or a combination of any mixed media.

Now, for the fun part…you or your partner are going to send an image of what you created to the other partner to create a diptych of your daily creative as one collective image. Your team can decide to have a daily theme or you can just go with the flow. Diptychs seem to work better when there is some kind of common theme, like color, perspective, common relationship, etc. Seriously, check out the Diptych group on Flickr, there are some great examples.

So, that is the first Daily Creative for 2009. You can post your team diptych at the Art Slam Flickr group and leave a link here for others to check out what you and your partner did.

Still playing with the new lens and enjoying some much needed time off. I am absolutely loving the selective focus, but more than that, I am enjoying how this lens makes me think differently about the artistic nature of my images.

I was so excited after reading the message from Tracey that I had won a Lensbaby from the Shutter Sisters blog. I ordered the Composer and started playing with it as soon as it arrived.

The first thing I realized was it was a 100% manual lens. Thankfully, I know how to shoot in manual and it did not take me much time to manually select my settings for my photos. The second thing I noticed was you do not have to tilt the lens too much to get a really nice blur on your images. Third thing I discovered is I really like this lens. It stretches me creatively and I have learned that a tack sharp image does not necessarily make for a great image.

What have you discovered lately while shooting photography?

I am so thankful for all the love and birthday wishes sent my way today. This made for a truly wonderful celebration of life and I am looking forward to all the wonderful things in store for me in the coming year.

In celebration of my birthday, I had a shoot with myself. Amazing how each self-portrait teaches me something new about photography.

Finally, I am done moving the Art Slam to its new home. I have a wonderful Guest Slammer lined up to share some inspiring work and a great spirit for being creative. I am sure you will love her work as much as I do. Make sure you update your links from the original Slam home and Candidly Speaking. This is where I will be posting from now.

Seriously, there is some mad talent at the Art Slam Flickr group. I have not posted in a little while because my latest art journal is actually my business plan. I have tried in desperation to do a traditional business plan and it does not work for me. I fouhere nd a great book about using an art journal to get your business plan in order.

Anyways, back to the Flickr group. I saw this page the other day and was struck by the color combination and the textures. This page showed the power of digital. I love it! The colors here are wonderful and the texture is unexpected. This makes a to-do list so much fun.

If you have not joined the Art Slam group, do so. You will find lots of kindred spirits there and plenty of inspiration.

I closed the comments a little while ago and used a random generator to select the winner of the session with Chris. Number 15, Suzanne! Congratulations. I am going to forward your information. Enjoy!

A few weeks ago, I started a Flickr group dedicated to self-portraits. I was going through the gallery today and I must say, there is so much talent there. Self portraits are a great way to learn how to shoot better with your camera. I shoot them as a way to learn more about using available light and flash for my portraits. I like to experiment and discover happy accidents. If you are interested in getting started with your own portraits or improving what you are already doing, I have a few resources that may help out.

Shutterbug’s Point and Shoot

66 Faces

Photodoto’s I’m Ready for my Closeup